Make a spice bag for the cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns. Add that to the apples and onions. Make sure the apple and onion pieces are cut large enough to give the sauce some body. Add everything else to the pot and simmer gently until the flavors meld and the sauce thickens. This will take at least an hour. Remove the spice bag and test for flavor. Believe it or not, topping a bowl of vanilla ice cream with the sauce is a good way to judge flavor. Follow the directions for canning jelly in your Ball Blue Book and process in 8-ounce jars for 10 minutes in a water bath canner.

Heat the butter, olive oil, onions and curry powder in a large stockpot over a low flame, uncovered, until the onions are tender— about 20 minutes.

Stir occasionally, making sure the onions do not stick to the bottom of the pot.

Peel the squash, slice in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Chop into chunks. Peel and core the apples. Chop into chunks also.

Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, thyme and water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for approximately 35–45 minutes, until the squash and the apples are soft.

Process the soup in the bowl of a food processor until it is puréed.

Return the soup into the pot. Add the apple juice and additional water, if necessary, to adjust the consistency to your liking, although it should be slightly thick. Add additional salt and pepper if you choose too.… Read the rest

Meaty soup bones, chuck steaks, short ribs and shanks are ideal cuts for slow cooking. While grass-fed meat may cook differently from corn-fed meat, recipes are easily available online.

The Leaheys chose a beef chuck roast, bone in, for this recipe. After searing the meat in a Dutch oven, garlic, onions, parsley, thyme and bay leaves are added. The ingredients are generously covered with beef broth, with a bit of tomato paste stirred into the broth, then cooked with the pot covered for about 4 hours.

Adapted from a recipe; Braised and Smoked Brisket: Barbecued Brisket Sandwiches with Firecracker Sauce by Chef David Page, Shinn Estate Vineyards, former owner of Home, as published in The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes, by Stephanie Pierson

Thinly sliced and slathered with barbecue sauce, this is the perfect brisket any time of the year. And the meat tastes terrific even before smoking, so if you don’t have a grill handy, you can still enjoy it.

Serves 8

2 tablespoons coarsely ground coriander

2 tablespoons coarsely ground cumin

2 tablespoons coarsely ground yellow mustard seed

2 tablespoons hot paprika

1 tablespoon ancho chile powder

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon dried ginger

1 (5-pound) beef brisket, trimmed

2 cups diced yellow onions

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes; or 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes and their juices

½ cup hardwood chips (optional), soaked in 1 cup water for 30 minutes

8 potato rolls

Preheat the oven to 300° F. For the rub, in a small bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients.… Read the rest

Our family loves cheesecake and we love apple pie. So way back when, my mom, Jo—who tends to be piecrust challenged—decided to do away with the frustration of a rolled pie dough and combined her cheesecake acumen with apples to create the simplest and most delicious winner. Try it—it will impress your friends and your taste buds!!

CRUST

1 cup flour (substitute almond meal for gluten-free version)

1⁄3 cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 stick butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

CREAM CHEESE FILLING

2 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese at room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs at room temperature

APPLES

2 large tart apples such as Rhode Island Greenings, peeled, cored and sliced

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon vanilla

1⁄3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, sugar, vanilla in a bowl and then cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Press into bottom and up about 1 inch up the sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake for 5 minutes; cool to room temperature. Increase oven temperature to 450°. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time.… Read the rest

President Calvin Coolidge said he never ate anything half as good as the pork apple pies his stepmother made. One hopes he and Mrs. Coolidge tried the Red Lion Inn apple pie on one of their visits. We bet it’s every bit as good as his mom’s.

Yields 1 pie

5 pounds McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and sliced (If McIntosh are not available, substitute another tart apple such as Cortland.)

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Crust for a two-crust pie (recipe follows)

1 tablespoon butter

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 375º.

Place apples in a large bowl. Combine 1 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon and add to the apples. Toss until well mixed.

Fill the unbaked pie shell with the apple mixture, and dot with the butter. Fit the top crust over the filling, and crimp the top and bottom edges together to seal the apples in.

Whisk together the egg and the milk. Brush the top crust with this egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Pierce the top crust in several places with a sharp knife.

Bake at 375º for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the apples are tender when tested with a thin knife.… Read the rest

Blend flour, sugar, salt and butter (by hand or in a food processor); add the ice water and shape the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball and press into a fluted pie plate.

TOPPING (make it and chill it)

½ stick unsalted butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar (or a mix of white and brown)

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350° F.

FILLING

2⁄3 cups sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1½ cups sour cream

1½ teaspoons ginger

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1 egg plus 2 whites

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced

In a large bowl, mix together the sour cream, sugar, salt, spices, eggs and flour. Add the sliced apples and toss carefully. Place filling into crust and sprinkle chilled, crumbled topping over the top (or make pâte brisée in shapes of leaves, stars, hearts….)

Cut the apples into small dice. Mix with the lemon juice and 1 cup of the sugar.

Let stand for 30 minutes while preparing the pastry.

Drain the apples very well. The sugar will have drawn out juice that, if left in the filling, will make the bottom of the strudel soggy.

Mix the apples with the remaining ingredients

PASTRY

1¼ cups bread flour

¾ cups water

¾ teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients into a smooth dough. The dough will be very soft. Coat dough with oil and place on an oiled sheet pan. Rest dough for 1 hour at room temperature.

Dust surface with flour for rolling. We like to roll out the dough as thinly as possible. At this point place your hands gently under the dough and stretch it gently to increase its size. The goal with this amount of dough is a sheet 3 feet by 5 feet that you should be able to see your hands through.… Read the rest

Welcome to Edible Berkshires - a local, independently owned magazine dedicated to covering the unique culinary culture of the Berkshires region. We report on the growers, artisans, vintners, purveyors and taste makers who play a role in our culinary scene.